Amid an increase in gun violence from suspected gang activity in Antioch, the City Council this week approved an allocation of up to $500,000 to fund extra patrols from neighboring law enforcement agencies.
City staff initially recommended using the funds to also cover double-time wages for Antioch Police Department officers, but this raised some concerns with public speakers and Councilmember Tamisha Torres-Walker.
“You’re acting as if having people work double-time is an additional resource, and it’s not,” Torres-Walker said. “It’s just recycling the same people.”
In the end, the council voted 4-0 with Councilmember Mike Barbanica absent to approve allocating up to $500,000 to pay regional municipalities up to $200 per hour to send officers to work shifts in designated areas to reduce the violence that’s been on the rise in the last 30 days.
At the start of the Tuesday discussion, Antioch Police Capt. Joe Vigil explained that the Police Department does not have enough personnel to handle the current workload — a point that public speakers addressed when highlighting potential problems increased overtime could bring to both the officers and the community.
Speaker Tiki Flow called for the city to listen to its officers, who might not feel $200 is worth their peace or family time. Speaker Damon Owens noted that he wasn’t anti-police but raised the point that the city shouldn’t overwork its employees who carry badges and firearms.
“I’ve been there at Sycamore Square and Peppertree (Way), Lemontree (Way); it is a very toxic environment, depending on what day you going,” said Owens. “And all you need is an officer who is maybe on his 16th hour or 18th hour, who dealt with a situation on the other side, or dealt with a problem, and it could lead to some problems.”
He called for resources to be spent on community violence prevention in partnership with law enforcement.
Torres-Walker added, “I support the appeal to outside agencies to come in and add additional patrolling, not calling in people who are already overworked to come in on their days off.”
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